Mystery of the Kung Fu Bing Panda Deepens in Bensonhurst

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Imagine the theme song of Unsolved Mysteries as you read this: A while back, Kung Fu Bing (an establishment so intriguing that Zak Pelaccio thought it might be an “insidious government conspiracy to prevent population growth”) closed its Chinatown location, which was to be the first of many, and its giant fiberglass panda disappeared from in front of the store. Amazingly, it (or a replica of it) turned up in Corona, Queens, of all places, in front of a fast-food joint, Panda 88, that was selling the bing, but calling them “Chinese tacos.” Now we’ve spotted not one, but two more pandas outside of bakeries in Bensonhurst.

Photo: Daniel Maurer

The first (above) is outside of the Full House Bakery & Café at 6306 18th Avenue. The café’s number is disconnected, and we were unable to reach a sister location spotted at 8512 18th Avenue (among other things, it sells birthday cakes with the words “Shower of Happiness” written on it). The second panda (below) was seen inside of another establishment, Tasty City at 2012 86th Street. A poster in the window there advertises KFB drinks, and another poster shows the bing, but the name Kung Fu Bing doesn’t appear anywhere (the bakery, like the others, seems to be affiliated with the White Swan Bakery in Manhattan’s Chinatown). An employee at Tasty City informed us “we helped start Kung Fu Bing,” but that’s about all we could get out of her.

We’ve left a message on the Kung Fu Bing franchising hotline (where, of course, no one answers) to make sense of all this, and although we’re pretty sure we’re the only ones who care, we’ll let you know what we hear.